Deep in the recesses of Luo villages there existed a man (sometimes a woman) called Jajuok. Simply translated, this means a very strange person . These people would do strange things as soon as it got dark. They ran around the village at night and scared the shi.et out of cows. Occasionally they would throw loose soil on your metal roof; or pee through the space between the roof and wall (in grass thatched houses). All too often they would dance ndombolo with their own shadows against your wall on a bright" moony" night . They were strange, but generally harmless.

Luo folklore had it that Jajuoks had mystical powers and Ranyuoks were never supposed to spill the beans even if you caught them in the act. This belief was so strong, and so deeply entrenched, that the miscreants had a field day harassing villagers deep into one night after another.

Occasionally, however, there came a time when a frustrated villager caught a night runner in the act and clobbered him just hard enough that the evidence was there for all to see the following day. The villagers would be awestruck and shell shocked. Some were relieved that Migush finally peeled the mask, while some were worried about its implications. Whatever the case, the night runner never ran again with bravado after that. The smart ones retired and passed the baton to a younger, stronger and mysterious runner.

The biggest shame for stubborn night runners was when they got tripped by a village cockerel returning home late from a date with the neighbor's chicken. Those birds (especially the Nandi variety) are noisy, and will create enough ruckus to wake up the whole village upon such an encounter. Frustrated villagers usually then peeled off all the clothes, and to their dismay, found out that the proverbial coat of armor around the night runner was a myth.

Not even repeated trips to the land of the Queen, and to the land of many guns were then enough to "re-enigmate" and replace the mask!!